TALE6 Trip-Day One

I managed to take Friday off before the big event this year, so I was pretty excited about getting down to Mission Tejas SP. I left my house around 8, ran a few errands, then headed towards the booming metropolis of Weches, TX. I realized when I got to Palestine that I'd never printed out the clues for Elkhart. Those letterboxes would have to wait for another day.



I drove down 287 and made it to Grapeland. On this quiet morning, there was no one in the cemetery where Blue Butterfly's GO SANDIES! is hidden. This is a really cute stamp of the Grapeland HS mascot. I left here and headed to Crockett, then on to Weches.



When I got to the State Park, I saw that Blue Butterfly's van was already parked at the Ranger Station. I met her inside and we checked in. We found our campsite and began unloading. I was in charge of setting up the tent while she was in charge of organizing the rest of the campsite, though we both helped with all of the tasks.



As we were setting things up, we spotted Boots Tex and Lone Star Quilter. We chatted with them for a bit, then continued with our projects. We finally got the tent up and BB got the bedding situated. At this point, it was time to do some letterboxing. Each of us had prepared a box for the park and there were a few more I needed to find. We drove past the rest room first and spotted Bailey's Bunch. We greeted Shelley and told her we were going to try and find the boxes at the Neches Bluff Overlook. She informed us that they had already been out to the Bluffs and it looked like there had been a fire and it was very difficult to tell exactly where the trails and landmarks were. So, we took her information into consideration and decided not to go out looking for the boxes in that area. We stayed inside the State Park and planted our own boxes!



We started out by finding one of LSQ's that had been missing the last time I'd been here. She had replaced INDIAN TRAILS QUILTBLOCK earlier in the week and it was just waiting for me! BB led me to the hiding spot and I stamped in. Special note: Pine needles are slick!



After finding this one, we decided to hide our own boxes. BB had some more things to do to her box before hiding it, so I left her and went to scout out a hiding spot. I went on a trail that I'd never been on before and found a great hiding place for ASSAULT. As I was sitting there looking over my clues, I saw BB coming up the hill. I told her I'd meet her back at the bridge and we'd trade.



After trading clues and finding each other's boxes, we headed back to camp. Just as BB was preparing dinner, Mother's Love found us. She chatted with us as we ate and decided to stay the night in our campsite with us. We talked about letterboxing and all the things that go along with it. Before the night was over, we also said hello to SandiBox, SoccerChick, and Goofy Girl.



Finally, it was time to say good night and prepare for the excitement of the coming event.